Does Blood Pressure Vary - ADC 6016 Instruction Manual

Physical activity can have a significant short term impact on blood
pressure. Work, exercise, smoking, eating, drinking - even talking, laugh-
ing, or crying will all affect a person's blood pressure.
Your diet, including beverages containing caffeine or alcohol, may af-
fect blood pressure. Emotional stress can have a dramatic impact on your
blood pressure.
Even repeated blood pressure measurements taken without adequate
rest between readings will alter your blood pressure as the vessels in
your arm engorge with blood. Many of these influences are only tempo-
rary or short term, though chronic (long term) exposure to some factors
may result in permanently elevated blood pressure levels.

3.4. Does Blood Pressure Vary?

Constantly. n individual's blood pressure varies greatly on a daily and
seasonal basis. It changes
throughout one's lifetime. It is not
uncommon for systolic
pressure to vary by 40mmHg
or more throughout the
course of a single day! While
generally not as volatile,
diastolic pressure can still vary
significantly. In hypertensive
individuals, variations are even more pronounced. Normally, blood pres-
sure is at its lowest during sleep and rises in the morning and throughout
theday. The chart (right) illustrates the fluctuations that could occur in a
typical day.